Earbuds? Yes. AI supercomputer in a compact size? No. But these are a capable meeting and transcription companion. Welcome to our Viaim RecDot review. We had the opportunity to spend a considerable amount of time with the true wireless earbuds and test out the transcription and AI assistant features. Read what we thought, and whether you should get some for yourself.

It seems like most earbuds manufacturers are focused on one mission: Competing with the Apple AirPods. It makes sense, they’re a household name, the earbuds are coveted, and people are always comparing them even without being asked to. But that’s silly. Not everyone wants AirPods. I’m even tired of my kids begging for some.

Most importantly, instead of always trying to outdo each other with incremental tech upgrades, innovation is where the true achievements lie. Earbuds have been the same for over a decade at this point. It would be nice to see someone, anyone change things up a bit.

That’s pretty much what Viaim is doing with its RecDot wireless Bluetooth earbuds. They’re true wireless earbuds, like any other. Yet, they also offer live and real-time transcriptions, multi-lingual translations, and AI assistance, all at the tap of a button or pinch gesture.

What makes the Viaim RecDot earbuds stand out?

First, the expected features. Viaim RecDot earbuds offer 36 hours of battery life with the wireless charging case, about 9 without. They utilize smart active noise cancelation to reduce noise by up to 48 decibels, so you can hear your audio streams better in crowded and noisy environments. They’re Hi-Res certified supporting the LHDC codec with bitrates up to 1,000 Kbps. They also sound fantastic thanks to 11mm titanium-plated diaphragms, a dynamic driver unit, and an N52-grade neodymium magnet. Plus, you can use them to take calls hands-free, as you might expect.

All of that sounds wonderful. Like a magnificent sunrise on a warm, cloudless day.

So, what’s the rub? How are the Viaim RecDot true wireless earbuds any different from the competition? Simple. They have built-in AI support, through the Viaim AI meeting assistant, and they can record calls and meeting audio, as well as offer live transcription.

Better than that, you can view language translations in real-time as the audio is being transcribed — in up to 14 different languages. No, the average person isn’t going to get much out of those features, unless you’re a worldly traveler and need translation help. But professionals everywhere are looking at some of the most practical, multi-functional earbuds on the market.

Jamming out with the Viaim RecDot true wireless earbuds

Something I see time and time again, and I’m sure many of you will agree, when a product specializes — like focusing on transcription, above all — it sacrifices features and performance elsewhere. So, you might expect the RecDot earbuds to score lower when it comes to conventional audio, like jamming out to some kickass tunes. That’s not so. They’re punchy, they sound great, and they certainly live up to the high-resolution claims.

If you only use them to listen to audiobooks, music, podcasts, and maybe take the occasional call, they’re excellent.

At $249, they are around the same price as high-end earbuds. Not too expensive, but if you’re not going to use the transcription and AI features, you might want to grab them on sale or grab a cheaper pair. If you have the money, it sure is handy to have multi-functional earbuds.

These are quality earbuds for all types of media

Make no mistake about it, and I realize I’m repeating myself here, these are fantastic earbuds. They have a comfortable fit, come with several eartip sizes, and offer active noise cancelation. They’re IP55 water-resistant, which means they’re good in the rain and can fend off your sweat.

IP55, if you didn’t know, can handle light rain, splashes, or sweat but cannot be submerged in the water. I wore them while mowing the lawn in the Florida summer heat and humidity — which makes me sweat profusely — and they held up fine. They battled the pools of salty body regulation juice pouring all over them like a champ.

They indeed offer 36 hours of battery life with a fully charged wireless case. Each earbud lasts about 9 to 10 hours on its own. That’s also with the smart ANC turned on. If you turn off ANC you might be able to squeeze out a little more battery life. Plus, the case is super satisfying to open and close. You press your thumb against the front and the lid slides open. It might seem silly but I found myself going through the motions over and over just to do it.

A quick 20-minute charge will boost the battery to 70% offering up to 6 hours of additional playback. Meaning, you can fast-charge them in a pinch. That’s a godsend if you’re out and about and can’t get to a power outlet to charge them up. And it can all be done, on-the-go, with the wireless charging case.

The Viaim RecDot true wireless earbuds are well built

The craftsmanship is also top notch. They’re lightweight, feel incredibly soft in the ears, and when you’re wearing them for hours at a time there’s virtually no irritation. The case is also light and super small, and fits right in your pocket. Despite that, compact or not, I never felt like they were fragile or I was going to break them. And unlike some earbuds I’ve worn in the past, I wasn’t worried about these falling out of my ears and breaking — they seem pretty tough. I wouldn’t go kicking them around like an impromptu hacky sack, though.

There are bells and whistles here, too. For example, when you take an earbud out of your ear it will pause media playback. When you put it back in it will continue the media playback. About midway down each earbud, on the little nubs, are touch-based button controls. A single pinch on either earbud will play or pause the current media. Two pinches will skip to the next track. A long pinch will start and stop recording, and so on. You can also customize these gestures and settings in the Viaim companion app. We’ll explore the app in a little more detail later, but I do have to say it’s designed really well, too.

Viaim RecDot review: AI transcriptions and translations

You didn’t think we’d finish up a Viaim RecDot review without touching on the AI features, did you? You’ve made it this far, let’s discuss how those work. Specifically, how do you record meetings, conversations and access translations?

Recording is done in three ways. You can activate call recording, audio or video recording, or live recording options. Call recording is fairly straightforward. The system will record and transcribe, in real-time, communications during a regular call or VoIP call. With audio and video recording, the system will transcribe speech from a pre-recorded clip — also in real-time. That clip has to be played from your phone. The final method, for live recording, is meant to be used during meetings, mainly face-to-face, to transcribe communications and events.

Let’s take the latter feature and introduce a scenario. You’re headed to a small business meeting with colleagues but your assistant is unavailable to take notes, or maybe you don’t even have an assistant? These earbuds can record the entire meeting, while creating a live transcription that’s kept on your phone, in the app, for reference later. Say you were engaged in an international call with partners. It could also transcribe multi-lingual conversations, translating them for you to read right then and there. You’re not waiting around smiling like a goon because you don’t understand the other folks. You can actually respond, in kind.

You can also translate text-only from the transcription later.

How does it work?

You can start a “flash recording” from the earbuds with a long pinch but it’s always better to use the app. In fact, you will need the Viaim mobile app to set up some of the more nuanced transcription and translation options.

Bear in mind, this is not meant to be a tutorial, just a brief overview of how you set it all up — it’s pretty easy, but not automated. To access translations in the app:

• First you tap the big red record button and select the real-time transcription option. You make sure the spoken language is selected.
• In the top right you tap the menu button and choose “Real-time translation,” and then select the language you want the spoken word to be translated to, for me, English.

I tested this out in several languages, and in a few ways. First, I had a family member speak Spanish to me and interacted with them face-to-face. Yes, they are fluent in Spanish. I am not, but I know the bad words. Second, I put on a movie, first in Russian, and next in Chinese, and allowed the system to translate for me. Finally, I used a course recording on learning a new language, which I downloaded and played back on my phone.

The results were acceptable. Translation is not perfect, but it works. You can understand what the other person is saying and, provided they don’t need a translation, you can respond back. It’s certainly world’s better than having no assistance at all. I don’t know if I’d rely on the translation in a life or death situation, but that would be weird to do anyway.

The accurate transcriptions are the real win, here

The transcription feature is incredible. That’s where these bad boys excel, and in strides. Viaim AI does a solid job of discerning what’s being said, transcribing and retaining the context of the discussion.

Now, there are some mistakes that show up here and there, which you could always edit after the fact using a note tool. Some words end up wrong, it depends on the speaker and their voice tones. Also, there are some weird transcriptions around pauses and natural speech. Basically, if people take a long pause it adds a sentence break which can make the notes seem confusing. You can go back and edit these so the meeting and dialogue reads accurately, and it’s not tough to do.

The system can also distinguish between multiple speakers and this is reflected in the notes. If you’re in a meeting with several people, or having a discussion with others, you can essentially see who said what. Sure, you can listen to the recordings and figure that out for yourself but it’s definitely a helpful feature. It’s pretty darn accurate, too. When I used RecDot to record conversations the transcription tool was always able to pick out everyone involved, without fail.

You can export recordings and notes, share them, and do a bunch of other stuff.

Viaim AI meeting assistant features

The final piece of the AI puzzle is the Viaim meeting assistant. After you record a conversation or meeting and have access to the transcription you can call upon the in-app AI assistant to do more. It can extract summaries of conversations, allowing you to review everything at a glance, or share with someone who wasn’t present. Alternatively, it can extract actionable to-do items as a follow-up to the meeting itself. It’s a lot like using ChatGPT to summarize content, only here, it’s real-world stuff.

It’s not something I personally would use. That said, it works well and does a great job of extracting the relevant information, especially with the summaries. If you’re the type of person who hates reading or doesn’t want to go back through the entire discussion it’s a game-changer. And I must say, this is how AI should be used, not to replace or handle our most creative work.

The Viaim app is intuitive

I won’t get into the weeds. An app is an app. But the Viaim app has a beautiful layout, its intuitive and it’s easy to use. To me, that counts for a lot. I see too many cheap, poorly developed apps. This one is the exact opposite of that. It’s responsive and all the options you need are right there upfront. You feel like an efficient and intelligent human whipping through the menus rather than a confused trash panda.

The first screen shows you the earbuds, after you’re connected via Bluetooth, of course. From there, you can access recordings, discover the brand’s other products, and then access settings and customizations. On the main screen, you can manage what Bluetooth devices are using the earbuds, choose an equalizer setting, adjust noise cancelation, and access an optional Game Mode for lag-free listening or a Find My Earbuds feature. There is also a big red record button you can use to start recording meetings or audio.

All recordings are stored on the respective screen. They’re separated between local recordings on your device, accessible from the app, or on the actual earbuds. Tap a recording and you can access the extra menus and features like the AI assistant — activated via a blue dedicated button in the top right. It’s a little like finding a cold chicken nugget between the couch cushions. Okay, it’s nothing like that. Moving on.

Viaim RecDot review: Transferring from earbud to mobile

Initially, the recordings are stored on the earbuds. Each earbud can hold up to a 139 minute call recording or 69 minute live recording. If you’re connected to the Viaim app the recordings are sent in real-time to your phone. If you run out of space on the earbuds you can always transfer the recordings and delete. The same is true of any recordings stored on mobile and in the app.

That onboard storage enables the transcription even when you’re not connected to the app. It’s super easy to transfer recordings to your device when you’re back online. There’s not much more to it than that.

Who would use the transcription features?

Business professionals are the obvious demographic here. The Viaim RecDot would be a valuable tool for recording and transcribing both on-site and off-site meetings. That’s not all, though.

There are quite a few other scenarios where these would be good to have. Some examples include attendees recording seminars or keynotes, students recording courses or presentations, anyone recording an important business call who may need to reference notes, and much more. You could also record yourself reading or practicing a presentation. I did exactly that and then translated my speech into several languages after.

With the Basic plan, which is free, you get 600 minutes of transcription usage per month. Pro is 1,800 minutes per month for $10 (per month) and Ultra is unlimited for $20 (per month). That’s ten hours of recording for free, which is not only generous, I don’t know that I would ever use more than that. I can’t speak for professionals who have multiple daily meetings.

What’s the verdict, and the price?

If you’re only looking for a reliable pair of earbuds, while I do recommend these, there are many other reasonably priced options. If the AI and transcription features sound useful to you, then yes, I absolutely recommend them even more. As earbuds, they work fantastic, they sound great, and they’re reliable as hell. I didn’t get too deep talking about it, but they also have some great pre-configured equalizer settings, a Game mode, and a few other goodies. The extended battery life is awesome, too. But even at $249, if you’re not going to use those extra features, sitting this one out makes some sense.

It’s hard to argue against the extra features though. Sure, the translations will have some mistakes but it’s really nice to have. The transcription feature alone is precise, reliable and will save you a ton of time. You don’t need any extra equipment either. If you’re a student recording your professor’s lessons, a business professional who wants to ensure all colleagues are heard, or someone looking to engage with non-native speakers — Viaim RecDot fits all those scenarios. Then you can tap the AI assistant to break down huge meetings for you, so you have some quick notes.

I also just really enjoy wearing them. Earwax not included.

• Recommended Buy: Yes.
• For Who: Busy professionals who spend a lot of time reviewing meeting transcriptions that need multi-lingual translations, and want reliable earbuds for the workplace.
• Alternative: Viaim NoteKit Tool
• MSRP: $249 ($398 with Notekit)